Zach Randolph Sullies the Blazers....again

Zach Randolph is back in the news for the Portland Trail Blazers and once again its not a positive. The oft-trouble forward is being investigated in a sexual assault case in Portland. Police are saying Randolph could be a suspect or a witness, they haven’t clarified yet. Guilt or innocence will be determined, and I am by no means assuming he's guilty of sexual assault.

He's guilty of one thing, and that's being a knucklehead. And had this thing never occured and had a police report never been filed, it wouldn't change the way the Portland Trail Blazers feel about Zach Randolph.

According to Oregonian columnist John Canzano, Randolph paid for a live sex show performed by two women for him and a friend. These kinds of shows are not illegal in Oregon. Three days later, one of the performers went to the hospital to seek medical attention and police were alerted to the complaint. Here’s where Randolph could have been a suspect or a witness, we’re not sure yet.

It’s another black eye for Randolph and the Blazers in Portland, a city that is tired of seeing the Jail Blazers moniker tied to their franchise. On June 9th, Randolph and a buddy were stopped for street racing in downtown Portland around 3:15am. Randolph was a passenger in one of his own cars that was traveling 50-60 miles per hour in a 20 mph zone. In addition to the speeding, there were two loaded handguns under the seat that belonged to Randolph. Fortunately for Randolph, he has a loaded guns permit and avoided trouble for this incident. There have been others, including driving under the influence and a terrible situation in Anderson, IN, where his brother shot into a crowd at a bar. Zach was there but fled the scene and later mislead the cops.

This is just more trouble for a Portland franchise that has tried like crazy to shed its Jail Blazer image. They’ve traded Damon Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace, Qyntel Woods, Bonzi Wells and other malcontent law breakers. The trouble is the front office recently gave Randolph a max deal to stay in Portland, signifying that they were going to build around the troublesome forward. How has he repaid this franchise?

By dragging this team and town through the mud. Repeatedly.

After the street racing incident, the Portland front office woke up and realized that Randolph and partner in crime Darius Miles were not the cornerstones of a successful franchise. This offseason the Blazer front office made strides to rid itself of Zach Randolph. They traded up on draft day to get Texas product LaMarcus Aldridge with the second pick. They traded three players to get Jamal Magloire from the Milwaukee Bucks and brought in Raef LaFrentz on draft day.

To challenge and ultimately replace, Zach Randolph.

Clearly, the Portland front office realizes it made a monumental mistake in signing Zach Randolph. You wouldn’t go out and deliberately sign three players that play a position if you weren’t thinking about moving the incumbent. He has even displayed the ability to average 20 and 10 for criss sakes, and they’re STILL trying to move him. If they wanted to keep Zach Randolph, they would have been building around him, not on top of him.

Which is why the Blazer front office should not feel too badly this morning. Yes, they committed a ton of money to an idiot. Yes, he has displayed many lapses in judgment. But anyone with half a brain can realize that the Blazers are trying to rid themselves of Zach Randolph. A careful analysis of off-season moves reveals what the Blazers brass thinks of Zach Randolph.

To put it plainly…not much.